Don't Lie to Her
by wujy
Summary: Blaise asks Draco for some advice on how to win over Daphne, but he's got to coax it out of him first.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I affiliated with it in any way.

Note: This fic was written as a prequel to The Question by HP Slash Luv. It's also being submitted as my Week 1, Term 2 assignment for Major & Minor Arcana. It it brought to you by the following prompts:

Write about someone receiving advice from another character.

"Be cool, like me."

"No, this is Patrick."

As always, please review.

* * *

><p>Don't Lie to Her<p>

* * *

><p>Draco moved through the Slytherin common room like the very animal that represented the House, eyes drifted lazily from one end of the room to the next, taking in the new faces and the old. Nearly every Slytherin student was in the common room, but even then it was desperately sparse. Most Slytherins—especially those who were in their seventh years the year of the Battle of Hogwarts—had elected not to return to Hogwarts. Draco wasn't sure why <em>he<em> had even bothered, but it was better than staying at Malfoy Manor and listening to his father bemoan the loss of the war and suffering his mother's piteous expressions.

Draco sighed; he couldn't even remember any of their names. They were either too unimportant or uninteresting or just too un... un. Still, the looks of fear on some faces and respect on others was a nice change from home. He supposed he shouldn't get used to it, though. Once he graduated, he'd be met with mostly disgust and hatred.

Maybe that's why he'd returned to Hogwarts—a brief respite before entering the real world. It certainly wasn't for the company.

He spotted another eighth year Slytherin, and frowned as he accidentally caught the eye of Blaise Zabini. Zabini raised a hand at Draco and raised his eyebrows, an indicator that he wanted to speak with him, but Draco was already in a surly mood and didn't want to be bothered.

Blaise, however, wasn't discouraged by Draco's obvious disinterest in him, however, and stood up to walk over to him. Draco, thinking as quickly as he could, slipped into a seat at a table across from a second or third year boy who looked meekly up at him from over a Potions essay. Draco tried quickly to place the boy's name as Blaise sauntered up to them, smiling what Draco perceived to be a wormy, little grin. Every facial expression Blaise made felt like a joke at Draco's expense.

"Can't talk, Blaise," Draco said, not sounding very sorry. "I'm tutoring, er, Theodore, here on his Potions essay." Draco threw a nasty look at the boy in question that said he'd better play along if he knew what was good for him.

"No, you're not," Blaise said, "because this is Patrick. Patrick," Blaise said sharply, addressing the boy. "_Shoo_," he commanded, and that is exactly what he did, nearly spilling his inkwell in the process.

Draco sighed heavily as Blaise took Patrick's vacated seat. "What do you want, Zabini?" Draco asked.

"Oh, don't be so flippant," Blaise replied casually. "You're not so important as you used to be Draco," he said with a small smirk. "We're the same now, you and I."

_Smarmy git._

"Well, since I can't escape, how about you just get on with it, eh?"

Blaise chuckled a little. "Same old Draco," he said, shifting in his chair almost imperceptibly.

Draco's eyes narrowed. "I'm disgraced, not inobservant, Zabini," he said. "What could possibly be so important to make you talk to me, but so uncomfortable that you're avoiding asking?"

Blaise grinned at this, which annoyed Draco. He hadn't meant to be entertaining, but rather to embarrass Blaise. Then again, Blaise never did have enough good sense to be properly ashamed of anything.

"I want your advice," Blaise said in a rush. He said it so quickly that Draco wasn't entirely sure he'd heard correctly, and he blinked placidly at Blaise for a moment before saying anything.

"You want my advice?" Draco asked, enunciating each syllable individually just to be certain he had heard correctly. "For what could you _possibly_ want my advice?"

"Well," Blaise began, using a boisterous, almost joking, voice to power through his embarrassment, "to be honest, it's girl advice."

This had been so far from anything Draco had expected that he had no idea how to respond. His jaw relaxed and his lips parted slightly in his shock.

"You want..."

"Yes," Blaise answered as Draco's voice trailed away. "you see, while I don't honestly understand what any girl has ever seen in you, getting in with women is the only thing you manage not to be a complete failure at."

Draco's surprise wore off instantly, becoming ire. "Thanks," he said dryly, crossing his arms over his chest, "but you're overlooking the fact that I don't like you."

"Why not?" Blaise asked, grinning. "It's not like you've got people lining up to be friends with you, and I'm as good an ally as any."

Draco couldn't help it; the corner of his mouth twitched up slightly in amusement.

"Are you asking to be friends?" Draco asked, sounding incredulous.

Blaise shrugged. "It makes enough sense to me," he conceded, "and what better way to begin a friendship than by giving a little friendly advice?"

Draco snorted, but his crossed arms relaxed a little. "All you have to do, Blaise, is be cool, like me." He grinned.

"Aw, come on," Blaise said. "Don't be like that. I'm serious, and so should you be. We could be famous friends, and this could be the first step."

Draco studied Blaise's face for a moment, trying to read the expression on his face. It looked like he was being completely serious; Blaise had always been a genuine person. It was one of the things that irritated Draco so much.

Draco sighed finally and asked, sounding bored, "Which girl?"

Blaise slapped his own leg with one hand, looking triumphant. He leaned in a little closer, looking exciting and lowering his voice so that only Draco could here. "It's Daphne," he said quietly. "Daphne Greengrass. I'm mad for her."

"Well, that's easy," Draco said, leaning back in his chair. "Daphne's pretty, so she gets a lot of attention. You'll never get her."

Blaise scowled. "Don't be a prat, Malfoy," he said. "I'm serious."

"So am I," Draco retorted. "She's out of your league. You don't stand a chance."

The excitement slipped from Blaise's face as he took Draco's words to heart. He leaned back away from Draco again, looking completely crushed.

Draco hesitated, sighed, and then said, "Well, don't look like I just cursed your owl. If... If you want to know about Daphne, I'll... _tellyouaboutDaphne_," he said reluctantly, ramming all the words together.

Blaise's face lit up instantly, and Draco winced at his enthusiasm. "All right, settle down before you pop a vessel in your head. Just... do what you did just now with me, and... Daphne'll be swept off her feet."

Blaise paused at this, confused for a moment, then suddenly alarmed. He raised his hands in defense, "Oh, _bloody hell_, mate," he said, scooting his chair back. "If you're saying I swept you off your feet, I didn't mean—"

"Don't be an arse," Draco snarled, smacking Blaise hard on the side of his head. Blaise flinched, but settled down again. "What I'm saying is that thing you do where you just say what you're thinking whether you're going to sound like an idiot or not, that'll work on Daphne."

Blaise mulled over Draco's advice for a moment, before asking skeptically, "So you're saying to make a fool of myself, and that'll work?"

Draco attacked a developing migraine behind his right eye by pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm saying that girls as pretty as Daphne have heard every line in the book, and your best bet is to not use one."

"So, just... tell her everything."

Draco nodded. "Now, you're getting it."

Blaise nodded thoughtfully. "All right," he said, making a determined fist and standing up. "All right, I'll do it."

Draco rolled his eyes, but Blaise didn't notice. His eyes had already drifted across the common room to where Daphne was sitting with a friend. "You do that," he said dismissively, and Blaise turned toward Daphne's table.

"Blaise," Draco said before the other boy could get too far. Blaise stopped and turned to shoot a questioning look back at Draco. "Don't lie to her," he said, unable to stop himself.

Blaise smiled, nodded his thanks, and set a course for Daphne. Draco frowned at his back.

_I can't wait to see this._


End file.
